


Blame It on Me

by Stardust948



Series: ZK Drabble December 2020 [4]
Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Angst, F/M, I may or may not be projecting onto Katara, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Ozai (Avatar) Being a Terrible Parent, Zutara, Zutara Drabble December 2020, chemistry is hard, no beta we die like me writing this
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-04
Updated: 2020-12-04
Packaged: 2021-03-09 22:27:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 696
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27854230
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Stardust948/pseuds/Stardust948
Summary: Katara can't stand the Fire Nation boy who goes to her school who is perfect at everything he does but whines like it's never good enough. That is until she finds him crying backstage.
Relationships: Katara/Zuko (Avatar)
Series: ZK Drabble December 2020 [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2036716
Comments: 6
Kudos: 50





	Blame It on Me

Katara groaned as she shoved her test paper into her bag. Despite all of her studying and hard work, she just couldn't seem to make above a C- in chemistry. It was one of those subjects where you either got it or you didn't and Katara clearly didn't. It was beyond infuriating. She looked around the classroom, noticing most people had a similar reaction as hers. Except for the Fire Nation boy who sat in the back. His slumped shoulders and unreadable expression showed that he passed his test with his usual standard. Nothing short of an A+. 

Katara couldn't stand him. 

Not only was he wrecking the curve, again, but he never seemed satisfied with his work. He excelled in everything he did both in and out of school but he would always complain that it was never enough. Things came so easily to him while Katara had to struggle just to get by. It wasn't fair! 

Katara was so busy sulking that she didn't realize the teacher called her name. She was being paired up with Zuko for an upcoming project. 

Great. Just great. 

They later met at the library to go over the project. Katara was shocked when Zuko stated that he can do the project by himself and just put her name on it. What he didn't think that she was smart enough to uphold his perfect record? Katara let him know very clearly that she was NOT a free-loader and she WILL help him with THEIR project whether he liked it or not. After much arguing and plenty of shushes from the librarian, Zuko finally caved. Being on the debate team certainly does have its advantages. 

The weeks flew by as Zuko and Katara worked together on the project and presented it to the class. Katara thought it went very well while Zuko was a nervous wreck. She expected as much. She learned under all that stand-offish anger; he was actually anxious about everything. Katara assured him that they did great but Zuko was not convinced. 

Grades were eventually passed out and the pair anxiously reviewed the paper. 

It was a B+. 

Katara was ecstatic. This was the highest grade she had ever gotten in the class. They scored highest on the project in fact.

Zuko was distraught. He insisted there was a mistake in the grading but the teacher refused to rescore, stating all grades were final. Zuko stormed out of the classroom in a fit of rage. Katara followed him, anger swelling up inside her as well. After all their hard work, she had to know why this wasn't good enough for him. 

Katara headed straight for the school theater, knowing how much Zuko liked plays since he had a tendency to ramble whenever he was tired. She found him curled up in a corner backstage. 

"What was that?! We worked hard on that project and you should be grateful!" 

"Leave me alone, Katara! " 

"I'm not leaving until you tell me why you're acting like this. Why are you so hard on yourself? We made the highest score in the class!"

"It's not enough." 

"Ugh one B isn't going to ruin you GP-" 

"It's not about my GPA!!!" Zuko snapped as he uncovered his face. He had been crying. "My father's going to kill me." 

Katara heart lurked. He was just being overdramatic, right? 

"But it's not even that far from an A." 

"He doesn't care. Father wants perfect scores or he'll... he'll..." Zuko absentmindedly touched the large scar that covered half of his face. 

Katara felt sick. 

"It's all mine fault." Zuko buried his head in his knees again. "If I wasn't such a failure..." 

All this time, Katara had no idea what circumstances Zuko was facing. She thought he was just being a prick but she couldn't have been more wrong. Katara sat down beside him and rubbed circles on his back. 

"I'm sorry for yelling and getting mad at you. I had no idea." she whispered. "It's not your fault, Zuko. It's not your fault." 

Her heart broke for him. She had to figure out how to get him out of there before something worst happened.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm not really satisfied with this one but it was all I could think of for the prompt.  
> The next one will be a lot more fluffier.


End file.
